Toughen Whistle-blower Law

November 30, 2007

Something is very wrong when, in defiance of the state attorney general, a state agency can continue to take retaliatory action against employees who blow the whistle on corruption.

That appears to be what officials at the Department of Public Safety are doing with Sgt. Andrew Matthews and Lt. Benjamin Pagoni Sr., troopers who exposed massive misconduct in the internal affairs unit, revelations that were later confirmed in an independent report by the New York State Police.

State police managers were rebuked by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal last May for not only putting Sgt. Matthews in a hostile work environment, but punitively trying to transfer him to Brainard Field, where he would have been in the company of officers he reported on.

Despite Mr. Blumenthal's finding, state police brass shifted Sgt. Matthews to Brainard earlier this month, saying that his office had been reconstructed with special locks to address safety concerns.

Lt. Pagoni, meanwhile, is the object of three internal affairs investigations based on complaints by the same people he spoke out against. He was even suspended for four days for helping to capture a speeding crime suspect on his own time.

At the heart of the standoff is the state law that gives the attorney general jurisdiction over whistle-blowers. Although Mr. Blumenthal can urge agency heads to assign them to where they won't be at risk of injury or harassment - as he did on behalf of Sgt. Matthews in a letter to Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher - he has no power to compel them.

The retaliation controversy is the latest of several shameful incidents that have occurred since the internal affairs probe found that investigators ignored evidence of sexual assaults, domestic violence, drunken driving and larceny by troopers.

Scientists at the forensic laboratory have been accused of doing private work on state time. Troopers in the lab were caught exchanging racially offensive e-mails. A former chief of the lab, an African American, has filed a discrimination complaint. And in May, thieves burglarized a state police storage unit that contained evidence in 11 counterfeiting cases.

Resisting Mr. Blumenthal's request only adds to the department's scandalous image. Moreover, state employees who are even thinking of divulging corruption will likely be discouraged from doing so, now that they know the attorney general can't protect them.

Gov. Rell should, at minimum, order the department to work out a mutually acceptable agreement that ensures the safety of Sgt. Matthews and Lt. Pagoni.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, should start amending the whistle-blower statute to guarantee that employees who inform on colleagues and supervisors are protected.